Month: July 2021

Flatten a Multilevel Doubly Linked List

Good morning software developers and software engineers! Hope your day has started on the right note. Every morning, weather allowing for it, my wife and I have breakfast and go for a brisk walk. Today was no exception. Before 08:00 AM I have watered plants in the yard including a rosemary bush that we planted a week ago or so, showered, shaved, got dressed and started my work day. It is amazing how well you feed during the day once you have exercised, no matter how short or long.

Last week I read the article (let me see if I can find it in my Twitter account @john_canessa … found it) Cybersecurity bills gain new urgency after rash of attacks. It seems that both political parties, Democrats and Republicans are pushing a bill that will help our country against cyber attacks. In the past few months we have seen hundreds if not thousands of attacks, some to disable our government, companies and organizations or to ask for ransom. One of the proposed ideas is to force targets to disclose in a short period of time (24 hours or so) any cyber breach they have experienced. This will allow the government and other organizations to take action as needed to prevent the same type of attacks. In my opinion there should be some type of penalty for the bad actors in an attempt to curb their proliferation (transparency and accountability). Will see what happens with the bill and its implementation! Continue reading “Flatten a Multilevel Doubly Linked List”

Unique Binary Search Trees

It has been raining all day in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The good thing is that there has been little lightning. I was going to replace an old UPS that I am using to power my main computer in which I develop all the code for this blog, but it was not necessary. I will replace the UPS over the weekend. Continue reading “Unique Binary Search Trees”

Intersection of Two Arrays

Good day fellow software developers and engineers! It is a gloomy day in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Hopefully the weather is nicer in your neck of the woods.

Today I picked up the LeetCode 349 Intersection of Two Arrays problem. To be honest with you I do not recall why I did it. Due to thunderstorms I had to power down my computers a couple times today. I just lost track of the reason why I picked this problem. Continue reading “Intersection of Two Arrays”

Reverse String II

The end of my workday is approaching shortly. Hopefully I will be done with this post soon; otherwise will finish it tomorrow.

Earlier today I was snooping around in the LeetCode website. For the first time I ran into a page that shows every submission you make for a problem. Perhaps I am mistaken, but it seems that the site counts as attempts every submission you make. For example, you ran your first pass and let’s say it is accepted but you want to learn more by improving performance. You may even generate one or more implementations. It seems that they count against you. This seems awkward to me. If I am trying to learn I should not be penalized. If my assumption is incorrect, PLEASE LEAVE ME A NOTE BELLOW SETTING ME STRAIGHT. Continue reading “Reverse String II”

Find Peek Element

Good day! Hope you are doing well. Today is July 13th, 2021. We are approaching midsummer. Not sure where time is going.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I attempted some daily problems posted by LeetCode. At this time I am somewhat busy so I have missed a few. Hopefully in a month or two I will have enough time to work on a problem a day; at least the easy and medium. The others may take a couple days. Continue reading “Find Peek Element”

Find K Pairs With Smallest Sum

Happy Monday! Hope your day and week has started on the right note. With travel opening in Europe many are making plans and some are already travelling to Europe. It seems that most countries are eager and hopefully able to receive visitors in a safe manner.

Spoke with my youngest son this morning. He was heading to his office. Since the pandemic started he has been working from home like most people in the world has including me. Since the pandemic appears to be under control in many countries, including the USA, schedules are quickly changing and most people will be full time at the office at their place of work. Some companies will allow more flexibility than before with schedules allowing employees to work one or two days from home. Keep in mind that most studies have determined that face contact and casual meetings are associated with more productivity. Interesting fact, because most of us thought that chatting by the water cooler was a complete waste of time! Continue reading “Find K Pairs With Smallest Sum”

Kth Smallest Element in a Sorted Matrix

This is Thursday and a template summer day in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The highs for today have been forecasted in the low to mid 70s F. Overall the temperatures a lower than usual.

Earlier this morning I watched the NewScientist DEBATE “Information and the future of defense” presented by BAE Systems. It was interesting. The panel had a moderator and if I recall four contributors with very good credentials in the topic at hand.

In my humble opinion, cyberwarfare is a very serious threat brought by bad actors which may represent organizations or states. Since they can be very damaging and are constantly morphing, AI should be employed to determine the threat in a very short time (e.g., milliseconds), block it, and bring harm to the actors. There is an old saying, if force does not solve your problem, you are not using enough. I will not go into more detail at this time, but chatting, discussing and signing agreements between good actors will never stop bad ones. Continue reading “Kth Smallest Element in a Sorted Matrix”

Gray Code

Yesterday it rained all day and night. Today when my wife and I woke up the outside temperature was 58F. Not that cold but it called for long sleeve t-shirts.

Last night rain did wonders for lawns. They are starting to look very green and lush. It seems that on Friday we might get some additional rain which is good for farmers and lawns.

Over the long weekend my wife and I prepared bruschettas. Coming from Italian parents, while growing up, I consumed my fair share of this antipasto.

In the past few years we have prepared them now and then. This past long weekend my wife and I decided to prepare different flavored bruschettas before lunch. They were simple to prepare and we had them with beer, red and white wine and Prosecco. Prosecco is the champagne of Italy as Cava is the champagne of Spain. The change in names was required after the French patented the name champagne only to be used for sparkling wine produced in some parts of France.

You can use any bread, slice it and toast it until it gets a light golden brown color. We prefer to use Ciabatta or Focaccia bread. Yes, my family comes from the Ligurian region in Italy.

We get packages of four Ciabatta rolls at Trader Joe’s. We keep them in the fridge. With a serrated knife we slice them diagonally with a thickness of ½ inch or so. We put them in a convection oven at 450F until they turn light golden brown. My mouth is starting to water thinking about how good these things are.

We also get at Trader Joe’s a variety of jars of tapenades. They are reasonably priced and the flavors are incredible.

Once the bread is done, we pull it out of the oven and moved the pieces to a serving platter. We get a couple jars of tapenade and two spoons that are used to get about a full spoon of tapenade on to a piece of bread. Open your mouth wide and place the bruschetta in it. If you try them, please leave me a comment. I think they taste extremely good!!! Continue reading “Gray Code”

Find Leaves of Binary Tree

Hi gals and guys! It is Friday afternoon and we have a long weekend ahead. Hope you enjoy Independence Day in the USA. The weather in my neck of the woods will be in the lower 90’s F thru Monday. On Tuesday the temperature will drop a few degrees and it seems we might receive some precipitation in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

On a separate note, it appears that the UPS attached to one of my computers is starting to fail. One of the internal batteries does not seem to be charging as it should. I guess it is time to replace the unit. I believe I purchased the UPS about 10 years ago. OK, I just ordered a replacement on Amazon. The UPS should arrive on Friday this week. Continue reading “Find Leaves of Binary Tree”

Count Sub Islands

It is Thursday July 01, 2021 in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The forecast called for a sunny day but clouds have rolled in and out. Hopefully it will not rain.

After having breakfast, my wife and I went out on our daily walk. We run into several people we know. Perhaps people want to get in their workout before heading out for the long weekend. The fourth of July falls this Sunday, so the observed Independence Day (United States) is Monday July 05, 2021.

We do not have plans for the holiday. We will stick to our daily routine. I will try to get in one or two work-blocks each day in addition to do groceries and visit the Farmers Market in St. Paul. For one reason or another this year we have not shopped there yet. Continue reading “Count Sub Islands”